Trump and this chef battled in court but now ‘move forward as friends’

Chef José Andrés had protested President Donald Trump’s immigration message, including at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Februrary, when he tore off his chef’s coat during his speech to proclaim, “I am an immigrant.” Today he and Trump’s company settled their lawsuit.MATIAS J. OCNER For the Miami Herald

President Donald Trump’s company and celebrity chef Jose Andrés, locked in an acrimonious, two-year legal battle over the chef’s decision to nix a restaurant in Trump’s D.C. hotel in light of the president’s immigration stance, settled their dispute Friday and said they hope to “move forward as friends.”

Until now, however, this confrontation has been anything but friendly.

Andrés, who owns 23 restaurants, including Bazaar and the 3 1/2-star (Excellent) Bazaar Mar in the Miami area, pulled out of a planned $7 million restaurant at Trump’s Washington D.C. hotel in 2015 in response to Trump’s talk of building a wall and using terms rapist and murders to describe Mexican immigrants. Trump, a presidential candidate at the time, returned fire with a $10 million lawsuit. Andréscountersued for $8 million.

The tension only grew from there. As Trump turned up what Andrés called an anti-immigrant message, Andrés questioned Trump’s temperament and fitness to be president while speaking to the Miami Herald at a banquet in his honor during February’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

He tore off his chef’s coat amid his speech at the black-tie affair to reveal a black T-shirt with the words he would go on to profess during the crux of his address: “I am an immigrant.”

“The American dream of the 21st century is to be an America of inclusion not of exclusion,” Andrés, a Spanish immigrant who became a U.S. citizen three years ago, told the crowd as he advocated for immigrant protections. “I am an immigrant and a proud American immigrant. Together, we can keep moving this amazing country forward.”

“He is the first chef in the history of the world to be sued by a sitting president. He is my hero,” Bourdain told the crowd.

As late as December, Andrés took to the president’s preferred platform, Twitter, to call for a truce and instead “donate $ to a Veterans NGO to celebrate. Why keep litigating? Let’s both of us win.”

The lawsuits continued, and Trump and Andrés were deposed.

The terms of Friday’s settlement were not disclosed and neither side commented beyond the joint statement between the Trump Organization and Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup.

“I am glad that we are able to put this matter behind us and move forward as friends,” Trump Jr. wrote in the statement. “Since opening in September 2016, Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C. has been an incredible success and our entire team has great respect for the accomplishments of both José and TFG. Without question, this is a ‘win-win’ for both of our companies.”

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Carlos Frías
is the Miami Herald food editor.
He is on Twitter @Carlos_Frias. The Miami Herald Food page is on Twitter @MiamiHeraldFood and on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHeraldFood.